A Proposal for the General Education Curriculum
Submitted to UHH Congress
April 28, 2006
By the 2005-2006 General Education Committee
Note: A memorandum expressing a minority viewpoint on the proposed GE curriculum
is found on the last page of this report.
2005-2006 General Education Committee Members
Marilyn Brown, Chair
Thora Abarca, Library
Tausilia Amoa, COBE Student
Kainoa Ariola, OSA
Todd Belt, CAS
Philippe Binder, CAS
Beau Butts, CAS Student
Jonathan Groelz, CAFNRM Student
Hank Hennessey, COBE
Jean Ippolito, CAS
Pua Rossi, CHL Student
Michael Shintaku, CAFNRM
Pila Wilson, CHL
Anneliese Worster, CAS
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General Education Narrative
The motions submitted by the current Committee must be understood in the context of
actions undertaken by GE Committees in the recent past. This process of GE Curriculum
development, being a complex one, has evolved over time. We feel a summary is in
order and have provided one. This Report first summarizes the actions of the General
Education Committees from roughly 2003 to the present, and then describes the
proposals (in the form of motions) submitted by the current (2005-2006) General
Education Committee.
Our work flows, for the most part, from the hard work and direction of the previous GE
Committees. They held numerous briefings on these developments, but we feel it is
appropriate to summarize their activities now before discussing current motions.
I.
A Brief History of (GE) Time:
2001-2002 Self Study identified deficiencies in our current GE Program.
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It does not provide a means of documenting and assessing student learning in
our GE courses
It does not provide for general education across the four-year curriculum, that
is, for upper-division as well as lower-division courses.
There is no provision for review, selection, and approval of GE courses on the
basis of their content or of their contribution to UH Hilo’s goals.
There is no provision that GE course syllabi must state student learning
outcomes or target competencies.
The total number of GE credits, as current defined, is 40 credits; the WASC
guideline minimum is 45.
2004 GE Committee Recommendations
An enormous amount of work responding to these concerns and accreditation
concerns culminated in the production of a General Education Proposal in 2004.
This proposal addressed a number of accreditation issues raised by our
institutional self-study and WASC:
Recommendations addressed the need to focus on what students learn in GE
courses and to document their learning. The recommendations also address
criteria and guidelines for General Education by which WASC reviews
institutions. Excerpts of recommendations follows (see
http://www.uhh.hawaii.edu/uhh/genedfac/proposal.php for the complete
proposal):
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1. The (2004) GE committee's objectives in revising the current General
Education program:
o Ensure that our General Education goals are promoted throughout the
undergraduate curriculum.
o Encourage faculty to provide their students with clear, specific
statements of their course objectives that indicate how their courses
promote our General Education goals and their departmental student
learning goals
o Establish a system of review and, eventually, of assessment, that will
enable the university to describe and then document the kinds and the
quality of learning acquired by students in the General Education
program
o Respect the distinctive missions and academic emphases of the four
colleges and the divisions and departments within those colleges
o Ensure that UH Hilo's General Education program meets accreditation
guidelines with respect to number of credits, inclusion of upperdivision as well as lower-division courses, review of course syllabi,
and assessment of student learning in GE courses.
2. The GE committee retained the current GE framework rather than designing a
new framework because we believe that our objectives can be met within that
relatively simple framework. Individual colleges, divisions, and departments
are free to add requirements appropriate to their own missions, academic
emphases, and resources.
3. The General Education program belongs to all colleges, all faculty, and all
students. While it might not be possible to develop a program that is
completely satisfactory to all, we believe that we can revise the current GE
program so that it is explicitly focused on student learning and on our stated
GE goals.
The WASC Accrediting Site Team Report, June 2004 responded positively on the whole
to UHH’s progress in addressing some of these issues and the development of mākia
(“hallmarks”) that are, in effect, guidelines for what GE course content should be.
Following are remarks from the Accrediting Site Team Report:
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The General Education (GE) Committee has worked hard to establish the
"hallmarks" ("makia") for the UH Hilo graduate and has attempted to align
these descriptors with course features and learning outcomes.
The process for developing agreement on General Education makia, using
them for course input criteria, and then developing courses and syllabi with
the support of the Congress Assessment Support Committee seems wellconceived and, if successful, may provide a model for other campuses in the
region who are also striving to develop a collective vision of educational
attainment.
It is encouraging to see that the plan includes systematic assessment,
feedback, and program improvement and the structures to achieve them (e.g.,
syllabus review). A key indicator will be the campus's ability to come to
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agreement on the hallmarks and the syllabus review process within a
reasonable period of time (See
http://www.uhh.hawaii.edu/uhh/genedfac/index.php for full text of
comments.)
During the process of formulating its proposals, the 2004 Committee held numerous
informational briefings to describe and explain its activities to the Hilo Campus.
2004-2005 Committee Actions
The 2004-2005 Committee proposal acknowledged that the four Colleges each had both
overlapping and distinctive visions of what General Education means, according to their
educational missions. As a result, the UH Hilo Congress General Education Committee
invited all four colleges, through their deans or directors and their faculty senates, to
design and propose their own GE programs, so a common core of General Education
and Graduation Requirements for the entire campus could be formulated. It was agreed
that each college proposal would identify the categories, hallmarks, courses and number
of credits for that college’s General Education.
II. Proposal Put Forth by the 2005-2006 Committee
The 2005-2006 Committee’s first achievement was in bringing together representation
not only from the four Colleges, but from each division. We were joined as well by units
like the Library and the Office of Student Affairs. We were particularly grateful to have
student membership from each of the four Colleges as well. Our deliberations spanned
the Fall and Spring Semesters. Summaries of our meetings can be found in the minutes
posted on-line at the General Education Web site: http://www.uhh.hawaii.edu/uhh/genedfac/
We understand that the proposed changes are probably imperfect and even controversial.
Some needed work remains. The assessment of learning outcomes in the General
Education Curriculum remains to be examined, for example.
However, we have addressed some fundamental concerns expressed by previous and
current Committee members. Before presenting the specific motions of our proposal, we
want to briefly raise the rationales and thinking behind our work. The following table
describes the concerns of the GE Committee and how they were addressed:
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Issue or Concern
How Addressed
General Education Curriculum should
allow for more student flexibility, at the
same time as increasing students’
competence in written communication and
quantitative skills.
See I, II
Guidelines for General Education Course
Content acceptable to the four Colleges
Embodied in III – XI (Mākia)
General Education goals promoted
throughout the undergraduate curriculum
Writing intensive courses and area
requirements span upper- and lowerdivision curriculum
Review or selection of GE courses and
documentation of appropriateness
Courses for GE must meet Mākia
guidelines; this must be documented by the
offering Department; accountability
achieved through regular program
assessment and review (See XII)
Mechanism for Departmental and College
Curriculum Committee Review
See XIII (See also expanded discussion
below under “Accountability for and
Administration of General Education”).
See XIV
Articulation among Colleges to accept
course hallmarks (in cases of student
transfers from one College to another) and
a mechanism for settling disputes
Mechanism whereby Colleges offering GE
courses may address “challenges” or
alternative means of satisfying GE
requirements
See XV
A language option was seen as a desirable
part of the General Education Curriculum
See Item V. which adds an exception to the
World Cultures requirement. (See also
expanded discussion below under
Language Option.)
Accountability for and Administration of General Education
The proposal places reliance for the overall administration of General Education on
Program Chairs and College Deans, through the existing Curriculum Review and
Program Review processes. The system of Hallmarks or Mākia provides for a universal
system of standards based on the educational goals of the courses rather than
specification of content. Programs that wish to offer courses that students may take in
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satisfaction of General Education requirements have the obligation to certify to the
University Community that those courses are in compliance with the Hallmarks or Mākia
for the relevant General Education requirement area. Curriculum and Program Review
processes already in place, which employ multiple levels of review through Department
and College Curriculum Committees, the various Deans, and the Vice Chancellor for
Academic Affairs, can provide the external review and assurance that programs are
acting in good faith.
The proposal does not address the mechanical process of publication of lists of courses
currently approved for General Education usage. We presume that this can be done
through collaboration between the Registrar and the various Deans, possibly through the
annual catalog review.
The Language Option
A new exception in the World Cultures courses permits the creation of a “Language
Option.” Incorporating this language option into the general education requirements will
encourage students to study a two-semester sequence of foreign language without putting
an unrealizable burden on the resources of the language department or the administration.
If students begin taking foreign languages as allowed by this option, language classes at
UHH will gradually increase in enrollment, and this will give the language department
and the University’s administration the time to gather resources to accommodate
increased language enrollment over time.
Furthermore, this will serve to aid students preparing to transfer to UH Manoa or other
universities that require a foreign language as part of the bachelor’s degree. It will also
allow students planning to apply to graduate programs to include a foreign language into
their undergraduate course of study.
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The 2005-2006 Proposal
With the foregoing in mind, the 2005-2006 General Education Committee submits the
following proposal to the UHH Congress for Approval:
I. The General Education Program in all undergraduate degree programs at UH-Hilo will
include the following requirement areas:
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Basic Requirements, which will include coursework in Written
Communication, Quantitative Reasoning, World Cultures, and
Hawaii/Asia Pacific.
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Area Requirements, which will include coursework in the Humanities,
Social Sciences, and Natural Sciences. The Natural Sciences Area
Requirement must include a laboratory course in a physical or biological
science.
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Writing Intensive, satisfaction of a Writing Intensive Requirement.
II. The minimum acceptable coursework for any College’s implementation of this
General Education Program must include, but is not limited to:
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Basic Requirements: 6 credits in Written Communication; 6 credits in
Quantitative Reasoning; 6 credits in World Cultures; 3 credits in
Hawaii/Asia/Pacific.
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Area Requirements: 6 credits in Humanities; 6 credits in Social Sciences;
7 credits in Natural Sciences, including one laboratory credit.
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Writing Intensive: 9 credits, 6 of which must be upper division.
III: Courses used to satisfy the Basic Requirement in Written Communication must:
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introduce students to different forms of college-level writing, including, but not
limited to, academic discourse, and guide them in writing for different purposes
and audiences
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provide students with guided practice of writing processes-planning, drafting,
critiquing, revising, and editing-making effective use of written and oral feedback
from the faculty instructor and from peers
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require at least 5000 words of finished prose-equivalent to approximately 20
typewritten pages
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help students develop information literacy by teaching search strategies, critical
evaluation of information and sources, and effective selection of information for
specific purposes and audiences; teach appropriate ways to incorporate such
information, acknowledge sources and provide citations
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help students read texts and make use of a variety of sources in expressing their
own ideas, perspectives, and/or opinions in writing.
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IV. Courses used to satisfy the Basic Requirement in Quantitative Reasoning must:
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enable students to understand the use of mathematical concepts as representations
of real world events and phenomena
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require students to develop skills in chains of reasoning from data to conclusions
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require students to develop skills in problem-solving using mathematical concepts
and techniques
V. Courses used to satisfy the Basic Requirement in World Cultures must:
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analyze the development of human societies and their cultural traditions through
time and throughout the world, including Africa, the Americas, the Middle East,
Asia, Europe, and Oceania (Pacific Basin)
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offer a broad, integrated analysis of cultural, economic, political, scientific, and
social development that recognizes the diversity of human societies and their
cultural traditions
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examine processes of cross-cultural interaction and exchange that have linked the
world's people through time
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engage students in the study and analysis of writings, narratives, texts, artifacts,
and/or practices that represent the perspective of different societies and cultural
traditions
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Exception for language course: Second semester or above language course that
includes a World Cultures component through language or cultural comparison.
VI. Courses used to satisfy the Area Requirements in Humanities must:
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involve students actively in critical thinking and in written or oral communication
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use the terminology of the visual, performing, or creative arts; or of the study of
philosophy, language, communication, or religion; or of literary representations
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engage students in the study of artifacts, texts, performances, processes, theories,
or issues of the concern in studies of the arts, philosophy, language,
communication, religion, or literature
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demonstrate the methods or modes of inquiry employed in studies of the arts,
philosophy, language, communication, religion, or literature
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illustrate the interrelationships between the discipline and academic disciplines in
the social or natural sciences
VII. Courses used to satisfy the Area Requirements in Social Sciences must:
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involve students actively in critical thinking and in written or oral communication
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use the terminology of theories, structures, or processes in the social sciences
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present theories, concepts, models, practices, research methods, or issues of
concern in the study of these structures or processes
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demonstrate inquiry that is guided by theory and/or by quantitative and/or
qualitative methods employed in the study of structures or processes within the
social sciences
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illustrate the interrelationships between the discipline and academic disciplines in
the humanities or natural sciences
VIII. Lecture courses used to satisfy the Area Requirements in Natural Sciences must:
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involve students actively in critical thinking, numeracy, and written or oral
communication
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use the terminology of computational, physical or biological sciences
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include knowledge and theories of the computational, physical or biological
sciences
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foster a student's ability to perform inquiry that is guided by the scientific method,
including observation/experimentation and scientific reasoning/mathematics
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illustrate the interrelationships between the discipline and academic disciplines in
the humanities or social sciences
IX. Laboratory courses used to satisfy the Area Requirements in Natural Sciences must:
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use the laboratory methods of physical or biological science
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involve the process of, or considers the issues of, experimental design,
testing/measurement, analysis and interpretation of experimental data/results
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consider the strengths and limitations of the scientific method
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demonstrate the interaction of observation/experiment, and reasoning/analysis.
X. Courses used to satisfy a Study of Hawaii, Asia, or the Pacific requirement must:
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involve students actively in written or oral communication
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investigate major aspects of the culture, language, economy, history, or natural
environment of Hawai'i or of another indigenous culture or nation or region of the
Pacific or Asia
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foster critical understanding of different cultural perspectives, values, and world
views and the ability to acquire additional knowledge about these
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illustrate the interrelationships among various disciplines in the study of the
culture or region
XI: Courses used to satisfy a Writing Intensive requirement must:
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use writing to promote the learning of course materials. Instructors assign formal
and informal writing, both in class and out, to increase students' understanding of
course material as well as to improve writing skills.
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provide interaction between teacher and students while students do assigned
writing; in effect, the instructor acts as an expert and the student as an apprentice
in a community of writers.
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be graded to a significant extent by the student's writing performance
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require students to do a substantial amount of writing—a minimum of 4000
words, or about 16 finished pages—formal, or informal, including analytic essays,
critical reviews, journals, lab reports, research reports, or reaction papers, etc.
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normally be restricted to 20 students.
XII. The decision to offer a course for General Education credit rests with the offering
Department and College. Offering a course for General Education credit imposes the
following obligations on that department:
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Notification to the University community that the course is intended for General
Education credit, and the specific General education requirement that it is
intended to satisfy. This includes an obligation to notify the community of any
future changes in the course that may affect its continued suitability for that
General Education requirement.
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Public statement of the broad learning objectives of the course, through
publication of a master syllabus or other statement of objectives for the course at
an accessible location.
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Enforcement of reasonable compliance with the stated learning objectives by
instructors appointed by the department.
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Documentation through regular, periodic program review that the course
continues to meet the appropriate set of hallmarks or standards.
XIII. Upon adoption of this program, the following sequence of events must occur:
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Each Department must review courses that it may choose to offer for General
Education, and prepare a description of how the each course meets the appropriate
set of hallmarks.
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Each College Curriculum Committee must review the descriptions provided by
the Departments within the College, and act to approve or deny each course for
General Education.
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The results of the Colleges’ reviews must be accumulated, and a combined list of
acceptable courses published. (Mechanism to be determined.)
XIV. The Colleges agree that any course certified by one College’s Curriculum
Committee as meeting a particular set of hallmarks will be accepted by all other Colleges
for the same requirement area. Acceptance of a course by one College, when that course
is unacceptable to another College and the disagreement cannot be resolved through
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discussion between the Colleges, may be appealed to, and finally resolved by, the
General Education Committee of the UH-Hilo Congress.
XV. Colleges that offer courses to fulfill General Education requirements may determine
alternative means (credit by examination, or other alternatives) for the satisfaction of any
General Education requirement, subject to the following conditions:
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The Department proposing the alternative means must demonstrate how the
appropriate hallmarks are satisfied by the alternative; and,
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The alternative, if offered, must be available to any student that requests it.
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MEMORANDUM
TO:
April 25, 2006
Jene Michaud, Chair
UH-Hilo Congress
THROUGH: Marilyn Brown, Chair
General Education Committee
FROM:
Thora Abarca, H. W. Hennessey, Jr., and Michael Shintaku, Members
General Education Committee
RE:
Minority report on the issue of allowing language courses for World
Cultures credit
The 2005-2006 General Education Committee was strongly divided on the issue of
inclusion of language courses for credit under the World Cultures hallmarks. This
provision passed with a one-vote margin. This memorandum expresses the views of the
minority in that vote.
The inclusion of an exception for language courses under the World Cultures hallmarks is
an explicit recognition that language courses as traditionally offered would not meet at
least some of the other hallmarks that the Committee has adopted for this content area. In
summary, the intention of that set of hallmarks was to define standards that emphasized
the broad examination of multiple societies and cultural traditions and the interactions
between those societies and cultures.
While the study of a single language may involve the study of several cultures, especially
when the study is of the languages of the former colonial powers, it is our view that the
broad comparison of cultures with the emphasis on social and cultural institutions and
practices that we envision as the hallmark of a World Cultures course is not likely to be
the main thrust. For that reason, we opposed the exception that would allow language
courses to satisfy the World Cultures requirement.
This issue arose from what the minority viewed as a misplaced concern for the ability of
students to apply more than one language course to general education requirements. Our
survey of students (n = 219) found that virtually none (2.2%) reported this as a reason for
not studying languages.
The overall proposal of the General Education Committee provides for mandated breadth
of coverage of content with a small set of courses in the Basic and Area Requirements.
The minority believes, in the end, that this substitution of a language course for a World
Cultures course is inconsistent with the intent of the World Cultures requirement.
Furthermore, by allowing the student to concentrate coursework in a single area, it
undermines the breadth that is intended in this portion of the proposed curriculum.
The minority sees the general electives portion of the various curricula offered by the
University as part of the student’s General Education. We believe the remainder of the
Committee would agree on this point. Those credits provide the opportunity for students
to pursue greater depth or breadth in the content of their education as they desire. They
certainly provide opportunity for students to take as many language courses as they wish.
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